The federal government is at it again. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development made a so-called “simplification” to the HUD-1 RESPA form, which involved expanding what was a relatively unfussy two-page form into three lengthier, altogether less simplified–and more stringent–pages.

Just when we’ve all gotten a chance to acclimate, there’s another change in store. This one’s a doozy: rumor has it that three pages will now become five or six. We suspect that the plan is to merge Truth in Lending disclosures along with RESPA into one even more expansive form.

While both sets of forms ultimately serve as disclosures to the borrower, the information contained in each varies widely. RESPA disclosures are typically made by lenders to provide borrowers with information about their settlement charges and the lender’s mortgage servicing intentions. These take a good deal of prediction, precision (with defined accuracy rates), and conservatism.

Truth in Lending disclosures are another beast entirely. They provide an opportunity for lenders to reveal the cost of a loan–beginning to end. These figures include interest rates, additional charges (such as late fees), and total payback amounts.

These are two entirely different sets of disclosures–provided at different times, by different departments, and for different reasons. Consolidating them might simplify the paper, but it will most certainly not simplify the paperwork.

At this point, we don’t know the precise details about these disclosures. But we do know that you’ll need for your HUD-1 software to stay on its toes.

Here at Easy Soft, we like to do just that. We’ll keep abreast of the changes, and as soon as anything definitive is revealed, our programmers will be hard at work to keep your real estate settlement software primed and rigorously up to date.

Until then, give us a call # (732)–398-1001 to learn about our HUD-1 software, and more.

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